FOOTBALL: Tyrone Nix talks Ole Miss defense

Here’s what Ole Miss defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix had to say on a few topics earlier this week.

(Lamar Brumfield had kind of flown under the radar. What enabled him to win the job and then play so well against Memphis?)

His work ethic. He consistently tries to do it the way he’s coached, and that’s what earned him the starting nod. Allen Walker was injured, but those two were battling it out. Lamar was more consistent throughout camp.

(What were your thoughts on the play of cornerbacks Dustin Mouzon …)

We try to use our eyes to catch the ball. I don’t know what technique he’s been taught in the past, but it’s obvious he’s still struggling a little on learning the technique we’re teaching. We try to teach our guys to turn into the receiver once the ball is in the air, and get your head around instead of the receiver scoring touchdowns. Our whole objective is if you don’t intercept it at least knock it down.

(And Cassius Vaughn?)

I thought Cassius Vaughn was having a heck of a game (when he injured his ankle). I thought Mouzon played well until later in the game, whether he lost his focus, lost his technique, I don’t know. He didn’t play the ball well enough.

All in all, their receivers, our DBs … that’s not really one of our strengths. We were average.

(I know you can’t comment on officiating, but did you think Cassius was in position to make those plays?)

I think if we go into every ballgame and Cassius competes like he did, we’ll take our chances. I like the way he played.

(Your thoughts on the possibility of playing in the rain?)

If it’s sunny great, if it’s raining great. We just have to go play. We’ve got to play with discipline and with effort and fundamentals. If we do those things who knows what may happen?

(How do you compete against a quarterback like Wake’s Riley Skinner, who has such a high completion percentage?)

You’ve got to mix it up. I think the guy’s good. I think he’s one of the best quarterbacks out there. You look at his completion percentage. You’ve got to mix it up on any good quarterback.